Shantal Riley and Stephanie Chukwuma, both from the Class of 2019, have been chosen as the first Anne O’Hare McCormick Scholars at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.

Shantal Riley

The $2,500 scholarships honor the legacy of the Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent Anne O’Hare McCormick of The New York Times. After she died in May 1954, her colleagues in The Newswomen’s Club of New York created the nonprofit scholarship fund as a posthumous tribute to her.

The winners were announced on April 29 by Jan Paschal, president of the fund’s board, during a reception at The Wall Street Journal.

Riley impressed the McCormick Fund’s board with her investigative reporting for the Mid Hudson Times on the tainted water supply in Newburgh, N.Y., a project she continues while earning her Master of Arts in Journalism at the Newmark J-School. She is a 2007 graduate of Marist College.

Stephanie Chukwuma

Chukwuma made such an impression on the McCormick Fund’s board that the directors raised $2,500 in less than an hour to create this second scholarship to help pay tuition and expenses for her final semester this fall. Before she began her graduate studies, she worked at NBC’s “TODAY” show. She has also worked for Viacom’s VH1 network, ABC’s “Live with Kelly and Michael” show, and Fox 5/WNYW. She is a 2015 graduate of Queens College.

The McCormick Fund’s board selects recipients on the basis of talent and financial need. In addition to their scholarship checks, scholars receive mentoring during their graduate school year from board members.